Archive for January 31st, 2005

Over the years, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has pushed for ever-lower blood-alcohol limits, harsher punishments, .08% "per se" laws, sobriety checkpoints, "zero tolerance" (.01%) for drivers under 21, immediate license confiscation — and destroying many constitutional rights in the process. They have recently advocated the reduction of blood-alcohol levels from .08% to .05%; "zero tolerance" for adults is on the the horizon. And as I pointed out in "A Closer Look at DUI Fatality Statistics", none of this has had anywhere near the reduction in accidents claimed by MADD. Bear in mind that these are the same sort of folks who many years ago brought us the failed experiment of prohibition.

Some time ago I commented in another post that this well-organized (over 600 chapters) and well-funded ($48,051,441 in revenues for 2002) organization’s eventual goal is a return to prohibition. I also noted that in 1999, MADD’s National Board of Directors unanimously voted to change the organization’s mission statement to include the prevention of underage drinking. Not underage drinking and driving — just drinking. Let me say that again: MADD has begun to shift its focus away from "drunk driving" and towards the broader "problem" of drinking. An important step in achieving prohibition would be to shift the "problem" from the states to the federal government. On January 20, 2005, MADD issued the following announcement and press release:

CALL TO ACTION! Law enforcement is not only the best way of deterring drunk driving, but also the best way to deter underage drinking. A new session of Congress brings an opportunity to push for the STOP Underage Drinking Act, which would help support law enforcement in combating the No. 1 youth drug problem in the United States. This bill would create needed federal government leadership on underage drinking issues. Please ask your federal legislators to co-sponsor this bill when it is introduced.